Why South Africans are dragging the potjie out of the garage, and cooking it on a handful of sticks

Most of us own a potjie. Too many of them live in the garage.

It's not the cooking that stops us. It's everything around it. The schlep of getting the fire going. Babysitting it for hours. Feeding it log after log from a bag of wood that's empty before the meat is soft. Standing in the smoke. Then the ash and the clean-up afterwards.

So the potjie waits for "a long weekend". And the long weekend comes and goes.

Most of that fire never touches the pot

Here's the part nobody tells you. An open fire throws its heat everywhere: sideways, into the air, into your face. Only a small part of it goes where you want it, straight up into the bottom of the pot.

That's why a potjie on an open fire eats so much wood, and why it takes so long to get to the boil.

The fix is an old one

Cooks around the world have used the same trick for decades to make a proper meal on very little wood. It's called a rocket stove.

The fire burns inside a steel box with a short chimney. That chimney pulls air in at the bottom, like someone blowing on the coals non-stop, on its own. The fire burns hotter, and all of the heat is pushed straight up, under the pot.

In 2021 we built our own, just for the potjie, and registered the design. We called it the ROCKETSTOVE+.

A whole potjie on a handful of sticks

Because the heat isn't wasted, a small bundle of wood gets a No.3 or even a No.4 potjie boiling. No bags of wood, no hour waiting for the coals to settle. You're cooking minutes after you light it.

You turn the heat up or down, like a stove

The flap at the bottom works like the knob on a gas stove. Open it and the fire roars for a hard boil or to sear the meat. Close it down and the same potjie sits on a soft simmer for hours. No scraping coals around, no guessing.

Made in South Africa, from the steel they use for coal train wagons

The ROCKETSTOVE+ is made here, from 3CR12 stainless steel, a South African invention. It's the steel used for coal train wagons, mine chutes and the parts of power stations that handle red-hot ash. It's laser-cut and welded, and it takes the heat braai after braai, for years.

It weighs about 4 kg. It stands at cooking height, so you're not bent over the coals, and the long feet keep a full No.4 potjie planted. When you're done, it breaks down and goes into its own heavy-duty carry bag. That's why owners take it on holiday, fishing trips and weekends in the bush.

It's covered by a lifetime warranty. And it arrives with a fire starter kit: a lighter, a firelighter and a bundle of wood. Everything you need to light your first potjie the day it lands.

It's not only for potjie

A cast-iron plate, a frying pan, a grid: it all sits on top. Owners use it for steak, for breakfast, for a whole day at the campsite. And because it runs on sticks, there's no gas bottle to fill and no plug to find.

Now, how much does it cost?

You can get it for less than R3,500 on our official website, which is such a deal considering how little wood it needs and because we actually send a FREE carry bag, a fire starter kit and FREE door-to-door shipping (worth R100) with every stove.

It's once-off. No gas refills, no electricity, no bags of wood every weekend. Just sticks.

But Is It Worth It?

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. We're biased, so here's what the people who bought one say. More than 3,000 have been sold, and it's rated 4.9 out of 5. A lot of them were bought as a gift, and the reviews from the wives are our favourite.

What it won't do

To be straight with you: it cooks one pot or one pan at a time, so it's not the thing for thirty chops at a big braai. Your braai stays your braai.

If you try it and don't love it, you can send it back within 30 days for a full refund.

FREE door-to-door shipping · 30-day money-back · Lifetime warranty

Cook a Potjie on a Handful of Sticks

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